Lech Walesa backs US missile deal

Lech Walesa, whose Solidarity union co-ordinated strikes in Poland which sent
shock waves through the Communist bloc, last night backed the US weapons
deal.

Harry de Quetteville and Andrew Pierce

8:41PM BST 15 Aug 2008

Mr Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace prize for his defiance of Communist regime, told the Daily Telegraph: "I have always supported the shield in Poland. I'm glad that the thing is finalised now. There are so many weapons on the planet that the Earth could be destroyed 10 times over.

Mr Walesa: 'We don't need a new arms race but in the end, I'm in favour of the shield'

"It's obvious we don't need a new arms race but in the end, I'm in favour of the shield. The pros for Polish security outweigh the cons. It's good that the Americans will be here."

Poland's negotiations with Washington have been guided by fears of a newly resurgent Russia, an anxiety that intensified with the military offensive in Georgia. In the last week Polish leaders argued that the fighting in Georgia justified their demands for additional security guarantees from Washington in exchange for allowing the anti-missile base on its soil.

The Poland of today has undergone a major transformation since Lech Walesa led the strikes that spread from the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk in 1981. Today Poland is setting the economic pace for the post-communist world, experiencing a growth rate of around five per cent, one of the highest in Europe.

Since 2004, an estimated one million Poles have settled in Britain but the slowing economy, the falling pound, and a construction boom back in Poland have already persuaded many to return. ther eis a major constructi9on boom and house prices in solme cities have risen 60 per cent in 12 months.

The threat of a missile attack dismayed many Poles living in Britain.

Professor Karol Sikora, medical director of CancerPartnersUK, whose Polish father came to Britain during the second world war and who has relations based in the south of the country, described the situation as "like a return to the Cold War again".

He said: "Since the [Berlin] wall came down Poland has become an absolutely booming economy, there has been a rapid transformation and walking down the street in Krakow or Warsaw is like walking down any British High Street.

"The last thing that Poles will want is this kind of threat. If Russia took on Poland now it would take on the rest of Europe and America, and send us right back to the days of the cold war."

He thought the threat would pass but added: "You never know these days".

It was Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 which started the Second World War. By the end of the war, more than six million Poles had died, 15 times Britain's wartime losses, from a nation of only 35 million. Poland suffered a tragedy rendered all the more terrible because the Russians joined the Germans in the great killing, and continued it long after Hitler was dead.

Today, it is hard to say which country commands a deeper historic hate among Poles, Germany or Russia. The extraordinary diplomatic sabre rattling by the Russians over the US missiles will inflame old emnities.

Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, said: "The British did not come though in 1939. You declared war but you did not go to war. That is why we are demanding capabilities: "boots on the ground", not just parchment.

"We are a neighbour of Russia and we hoped Russia would be a good neighbour. It's up to Russia to define its role in international relations. The overreaction to what happened in Ossetia, and the scenes of devastation in Georgia obviously would make anybody anxious and a neighbour of Russia in particular."